Fourth Of July

Roasting, then grinding masala adds a depth of flavor to these chicken wings from chef Preeti Mistry.

Mashama Bailey’s irresistible lemony, crispy wings need two hours to marinate—so plan accordingly.

“My mother (like many Puerto Rican mothers) has always had a copy of Yvonne Ortiz’s A Taste of Puerto Rico in our kitchen,” writers chef and recipe developer Gabriella Vigoreaux. “I can tell which dishes she’s made the most because the book just naturally falls open to those recipes. Only during quarantine have I started using it myself, marking new territory with soffritto stains on the pages my mother managed to keep pristine all these years. I turn to it when I want to taste my grandmother’s and great-grandmother’s cooking with half of the effort. One of my go-tos is Ortiz’s guava barbecue sauce. It’s a wildly simple (four-ingredient) recipe with a single sentence procedure: ‘Thoroughly combine all the ingredients.’ It takes about five seconds to make but instantly conjures memories of childhood trips to the island, stopping at a kiosko for a pincho de pollo (chicken skewer) and licking the sticky sweet sauce from off my little fingers. My version is nothing like Ortiz’s, but it brings me back just the same. I’ve slathered this sauce on ribs and whole fish and used it as a glaze for pork belly, but I will always like it best with chicken. This is just to say, you might want to double it.”

Short ribs aren’t just for braising. Make sure to grill them to medium doneness, just long enough to render fat and tenderize, without letting them overcook or toughen.

Turn juicy-sweet peaches into creamy sorbet, no ice cream maker required. 

Juicy ripe peaches, raw sweet corn, and roasted peanuts come together in this peak summer snack—a perfect way to refresh after a day in the sun.

A member of the larger umbrella group of easy fruit desserts, a buckle features tons of fruit barely held together by tender cake. We're talking so much fruit that the cake buckles around it, hence the name. There are many regional buckle variations, and not all have a streusel topping. This particular recipe, however, has got lots of big crumbs—and we think you’ll be glad that’s the case. 

Summer’s most accessible cocktail is much like the season itself: easy, relaxing, refreshing, sunny, and filled with fruit and flavor.

A crispy-crusted pork shoulder glazed with a tangy vinegar and butter sauce.

Grilled corn tends to get dried out, but when you let it steam in a cooler, the kernels burst when you bite into them.

Supremely beefy, not outrageously expensive, and fast-cooking, skirt steak is our favorite steak of all.

More caramelization, more surface area to char, a quick cook time, and easy to share pieces are only a few of skewering’s advantages.

Chef Omar Tate makes a natural version of Kool-Aid by mixing freeze-dried sweet cherries and strawberries with citric acid for tartness.

This barbecue chicken has the crackliest, stickiest skin.

Easy, hearty, and it can stand up to hot summer weather—even if you make it ahead. 

Brad Leone’s crispy grilled chicken is glazed in funky-sweet fermented garlic honey.

Let the dressed tomatoes sit an hour or so before serving so they can soak up maximum flavor.

You need this spicy and deeply umami tiger bite sauce in your life.

These sticky-salty-sweet pork steaks are a new summer grilling staple.

The ginger-scallion-lemongrass sauce on this grilled chicken is lip-smacking magic.

It doesn’t get more summery than these delicate cornmeal pancakes with rum-spiked strawberry compote.

Call us crazy, but we think these three-ingredient crispy, charred ribs are just as delicious (if not more so!) than the low-and-slow, fall-off-the-bone-tender kind.

Lacquered with a tangy, garlicky hoisin glaze, these ribs are impressive without being burdensome: There's no grilling or marinating—just two hours in the oven followed by a quick broil.